Incorporating Cresskill's history into everyday learning activities

History teacher Mike Pasciuto helps seventh grade student Joe Lockhart, Steven Villani and George Sikoryak create a multimedia presentation and quiz for a program the school is doing in conjunction with the borough to teach second graders about local history.

CRESSKILL - Borough historian Carol Banicki is helping young students to learn about their community, bringing a new history quiz and other programs designed to foster interaction between them and the elders of the community.

Seventh grade students will take a special history quiz, devised by Mayor Benedict Romeo, with input from Historical Committee, which includes Banicki and a number of local citizens.

"The goal of the history quiz is to get kids out into the community," Banicki, said.

Banicki, who grew up in Cresskill, said all of the seventh-graders will take the quiz, which includes 20 questions on the history of Cresskill, such as which street is known as "Lover's Lane" and where the Liberty Tree is planted.

The quiz will challenge students to learn about different aspects of the town so they will have an understanding of the background of their community. In addition to the quiz, students will produce eight-minute video documentaries that focus on answers to the questions, said Mike Pasciuto, supervisor of the social studies department in the Cresskill schools.

Some of the questions require interaction with local senior citizens, in order to learn more about the way things used to be.

Steven Villani said he thought the history quiz, which was assigned on May 6, was cool as he learned about the past.

"It really shows how today was founded from back then." he said, adding that he wanted to know more about the history of Ray's Pizza.

"It's cool how [the elders] get to tell their life story," Villani said. "Some of our friends knew the history and what things used to be called."

Romeo said he wanted to bring the quiz to the local students because it is important for them to learn the town's history.

"I wanted them to learn and appreciate the history of the town they're growing up in," Romeo said. "The questions that were asked could not be found in a textbook, you would have to go and have a conversation with the senior citizens who've lived in town a long period of time that would probably know the answers to these questions. I wanted them to interact with an adult instead of sitting in front of a computer screen or texting from the screen. The children can gain by talking to the people who helped build this town."

Pasciuto said that local history is something that is interesting to young students at a time when schools are emphasizing a broader national focus on history, especially in regards to standardized testing.

"It's important to learn about where you are from and how you are influenced by people before you," Pasciuto said.

The students gravitate toward learning about the traditions of their town, such as what occurred at Camp Merritt Memorial and have expressed interest in the local history, Pasciuto said.

"Local history is sometimes lost and it's something we don't want to lose," Pasciuto said.

"We know that a lot of kids go to the computers and the internet," Banicki said. "The idea is to do research and practice being a historian. The mayor wants them to get out into the community and ask people questions."

In the second grade, teachers are implementing "Learning about Cresskill Then and Now," a history unit using photographs taken by high school students, such as comparing the new post office with the borough's original.

"The first Post Office was part of a general store in town, they found that very interesting," Banicki said.

Bryanna Roos, a high school student involved in the program, said she took some of the pictures of landmarks.

"Because it was for my town, it was cool to do this so other people could learn what Cresskill was like before," Roos said. "It's good for the second-graders to learn what things are like where they are growing up."